Fighting To Protect Your Smile
by Princess Cherry Blossom
Summary: Let's pretend Ichigo didn't need Rukia to make him face Inoue and promise to protect her! My version of what happened after the fight with Ulquiorra and Yammy. An IchiHime oneshot!


**Summary**: Basically, this is my version of what happened when Ichigo visited Inoue after the fight with Ulquiorra and Yammy. The title kinda sucks, but bear with me…xD

**Disclaimer**: I do **NOT** own Bleach.

**Fighting to protect your smile**

"_INOUE!" Ichigo yelled as her bruised body once again hit the ground._

_He desperately tried to run towards her, but failed miserably as his body simply wouldn't _

_listen to him. Instead he watched as Yammy, visibly amused, approached her aiming to strike her once more. _

"_No! Leave her alone!" he brawled as loud as he could. _

_Yammy was now raising his arm above her, smirking as he was about to hit her with his full strength…_

"Inoue!" Ichigo let out a scream as his eyes shot open. Wincing and gasping, he found himself in his own bed.

"It…It was a nightmare",he told himself trying to steady his breathing, his heartbeat still racing. _Or was it?_

No, it was no nightmare. It was the event from this afternoon, one that was obviously going to haunt him for a while.

It was exactly six o'clock in the morning.

A lone figure was slowly walking through a pathway very well known to him. It seemed as though the whole town was still asleep, the streets were completely empty which gave the whole place a bit of a scary vibe.

Strangely enough, the young orange- haired man didn't seem to notice this at all. He let out a small sigh of frustration as another headache was starting to annoy him. The intense 24 hours behind him definitely took a tool on him, not to mention his head injury. Yesterday's events were still difficult to process, although there was one thing he was completely aware of. As hard as it was for him to accept it, he failed to do the one thing he considered his purpose – he failed to protect those dear to him. Now, as he was on his way to face them, he tried to think of a way to apologize. The very thought of it made him feel miserable, since he knew that no matter what he said, he couldn't turn back time and make their injuries go away.

Lost in his thoughts, he was surprised to see that he arrived at his destination – he was now in front of Urahara's shop. He knew he was early, but decided to go in anyway. As he entered the store which was slowly starting to feel like his second home, he was surprised to see Ururu and Jinta already up and hard at work.

"Hey, it's you again!" Jinta said in his usual, annoyed mood.

"Uhm, yeah…" Ichigo mumbled tiredly. Damn, he needed some sleep. But if that meant reliving all those horrible scenes from yesterday, he'd rather stay awake for as long as it takes to make things right again, if that was even possible.

"So, what's up?" he heard Jinta's voice which brought him back to reality as he was starting to drift off into his thoughts again.

"Where's Yoruichi-san?" he asked. "Is she even up yet?"

"Way ahead of you", he heard a familiar voice from behind. He turned around only to see Yoruichi smiling at him.

"Wha-? When did you? Oh, never mind…" he let a sigh escape his lips as he lightly massaged his temple in order to ease the pulsating pain in his head.

"Ichigo, you don't look so good" Yoruichi said with a hint of worry in her voice. "It's still early, you should rest a bit before…".

"I'm fine" he blured out. "How…How are they?"

Yoruichi took a deep breath before turning around in the direction of the rooms where they usually hung out. She gave Ichigo a sign to follow her as she started walking towards the door.

"Chad is still unconscious, but we expect him to wake up any minute now", she sighed deeply before continuing. "Inoue's a bit better, though her wounds aren't that harmless…".

Ichigo frowned as the images of Inoue being tortured appeared before his eyes again. His dark eyes narrowed when he felt a sudden chill rushing up to his spine. How could he let this happen? Was he always this weak?

"You now, she's been asking for you", Yoruichi broke his thoughts. "The first thing she asked when she woke up was if you were alright. She really wants to see you".

Ichigo suddenly felt the urge to break something with his bare hands. He let her get beat up and she's worried if _he_'s okay? He couldn't take it anymore. He knew that instant he would never be able to forgive himself. He wanted to see her too, more than anything, but... How was he supposed to face her, all wrapped up in bandages, knowing that is was his weakness that brought her there? What was he going to say, that he's sorry? How in the world was that supposed to help her?

"Ichigo, you can't blaim yourself for this." he heared Yoruichi's calm voice. „It's not your...".

"Whose fault is it then?" he barked angrily as his hands clenched into fists. He felt as though he was on the edge of losing control. "I...I...I'm sorry, I just...".

"You're a mess, but I'd be worried if you weren't acting like this", Yoruichi exclaimed as a small _smile_ threatened to tug at the corners of _her____lips_. "Just go to her already".

Ichigo took a deep breath before he left the room and headed for the next door in the long hallway. Just as he was about to enter he stopped himself. He noticed his palms were sweatting and his heartbeat was racing. He couldn't help but feel stupid for acting like this. _What if she's still asleep? _He mentally slapped himself as he was growing tired of his own foolishness. True, he still had no clue what he was going to say to her, but... He knew he had to go in anyway. He took one last deep breath before grabbing the door- handle and entering.

As he stepped into the bright room the first thing that captured his sight was Inoue's pink bed sheet in the center.

"Kurosaki-kun!" he heard her impeccably sweet voice call out to him as he approached her.

He sat by her side and automatically noticed that her head was wrapped in bandages and her broken left arm was in cast. There were a couple of plasters on her face as well.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm so glad you're okay I was so...".

"Inoue", Ichigo interuppted her in a low, yet soft voice. "How...are you feeling?".

"I'm fine!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "This is nothing, really. I'm pretty tough you know, I...".

"Does it...hurt?" he lowered his gaze, interupting her again.

"Huh? Oh no, not at all!" she chuckled lightly.

Ichigo smiled softly, though sadness was still visable in his eyes. After seeing her like this, all the anger and excitement he felt moments ago were long forgotten. The only thing he felt was despair, as if somebody ripped out the heart out of his chest.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue broke the silence, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Inoue, I..." Ichigo started, unsure of what he was about to say. He glanced at her only to see her eyes filled with worry. He felt a strange urge to gently stroke her cheeks, but decided to ignore it and continued. "I'm sorry...for what happened. I was weak, and because of that you...".

"K-kurosaki-kun, please don't apolagize!" Inoue quickly interupted him. "You really shouldn't. I mean, I jumped out on my own. And I got injured on my own. If only I was a bit stronger, I...".

"NO!" Ichigo let his anger get the better of him again, his fist punching the floor.

"H-huh?" Inoue whimpered, widening her eyes in shock. Ichigo noticed this and immediatly regretted his harsh reaction.

"You can't blame yourself, Inoue. You're my..." he stopped himself before he said something he'd regret. "I'm the one who's supposed to protect you! I'm the one has to keep you safe! But instead, here you are, all bruised and beat up only because I wasn't able to...".

He felt her fingers clutch his hand and glanced at her only to see her gently smiling at him.

"Kurosaki-kun, please don't..."

"You have no idea how this feels, Inoue", Ichigo put his other hand over hers, this time looking into her eyes. "What if Urahara and Yoruichi hadn't made it in time? You could've... I can't even say it... I can only...", he squeezed her hand tighter. "I can only promiss you, next time, I will definitely protect you. Even if it costs me my life".

A few moments, that seemed like minutes of silence passed as they looked deep ino each others eyes. Ichigo felt as though the earth had stopped, the only thing that mattered was the girl who lay in front of him. Uncontiously, he slowly caressed her hand fighting the urge to lean forward, as her lips seemed so inviting to him.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun", he heard her whisper, before she slowly let her eyes shut.

Finally being able to relax, Ichigo watched her drift off, never letting go of her hand and his lipse curved upwards into a small smile. He had made his resolve that was now stronger than ever; never again will his sleeping princess suffer like this again, for he will always, **always **be by her side.

**A/N**: I'm not very happy with this, I didn't mean to make it so fluffy... Still it's my first attempt to write an IchiHime fanfic so please bear with me! ^^"

Anyway, thanks a lot for reading and please do review and tell me what you think! I'd make me sooo happy! xD


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